Class blog for CMU’s Making Things Interactive, Fall, 2008

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Magic Wand

This wand allows you to manipulate the environment magically, you never know what you can do as your powers grow cumulatively over time. You wand glows radiently when something you can use your power on is near. Flick your wand to find out what your new powers are.

Practically Speaking

The wand is an IR sensor/reciever that interacts in a special setting– theme park, family entertainment center, mall– with special props that look innocuous but have hidden components that can be manipulated by the wand.

How it Works

Most of the intelligence is built into the devices that are interacted with, this makes the wands cheap, since there will be many more of them then interactions. The IR sensor on the wand “listens” for devices which can be interacted with. Different objects have different difficulty levels so some form of communication is nessecary beyond simple on/off sensing. The props sensors are networked, keeping an online total of your score.

Minimum

Working wand a interaction device.

Goals

A high form-factor wand that looks clean and polished, highly reliable sensing, and a really fun demo interaction.